Pono (/ˈpoʊnoʊ/, Hawaiian word for "proper"[1]) was a portable digital media player and music download service for high-resolution audio.[2][3] It was developed by musician Neil Young and his company PonoMusic,[4] which raised money for development and initial production through a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.[5] Production and shipments to backers started in October 2014, and shipments to the general public began in Q1 2015.

Pono's stated goal to present songs "as they first sound during studio recording sessions", using "high-resolution" 24-bit 192 kHz audio instead of "the compressed audio inferiority that MP3s offer"[6][7]— received mixed reactions, with some describing Pono as a competitor to similar music service such as HDtracks,[8] but others doubting its potential for success.[2][9][10][11]

In April 2017 it was announced that Pono was discontinued after the company that was running the store, Omnifone, was purchased by Apple in 2016 and almost immediately shut down. Alternative plans were later abandoned (although the Ponomusic website has remained "under construction" as of 2018.)

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Writing in his book Waging Heavy Peace, Young expressed concern about digital audio quality, criticizing in particular the quality offered by Apple's iTunes Store.[12] "My goal is to try and rescue the art form that I've been practicing for the past 50 years," he said.[13]

In March 2014, Young announced that Pono would provide "the finest quality, highest-resolution digital music from both major labels and prominent independent labels" using the FLAC audio file format.[20] $6.2M of funding for the project was raised via preorders for the player using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.[21] In June 2014, Young assumed the title of CEO of Pono Music.[22] The Pono player and music store was officially launched in January 2015.[23]

On July 17, 2016, Pono Music announced that their online music store would be temporarily shut down due to the acquisition of their content partner, Omnifone, by "a large company".[24] During this shutdown period, Pono Music would be transitioning to a new platform provided by 7digital. In April 2017, Young announced Pono was discontinued.[25]

A portable music player, "PonoPlayer", costing $399 with 64 GB of internal storage. The player also supported removable MicroSD cards up to 128GB. Thus, the total capacity was 64GB with no MicroSD card inserted, or more depending on the size and the MicroSD card. The cards can be swapped to allow for a larger selection of data.[20] The press release notes that the PonoPlayer, developed in collaboration with Ayre Acoustics, can store "100 to 500 high-resolution digital-music albums".[26]

The PonoMusic online music store, which would sell earbud and headphone products suitable for use with the PonoPlayer device.[26]

"PonoMusic App", accompanying desktop-based "media-management" software, which would allow customers to download and sync music to the player.[26]

Press reaction to Pono announcements in March 2014, was generally skeptical: approving of the idea of good sound, but questioning the viability of a standalone player in a market that had moved largely to smartphones and that was moving increasingly towards music streaming.[9][10][11][27]
Several commentators suggested that the key to improved sound lay largely in music engineering and mastering practices, rather than in file formats and players.[28][29][30]

In the wake of its launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2015, Pono received mixed reviews. Yahoo Tech's David Pogue conducted a blind test with 15 volunteers aged 17 to 55 comparing Pono Music downloads (FLACformat) played on a Pono Player with iTunes downloads (AAC format) played on an iPhone; he found that the participants did not prefer Pono.[31]
A subsequent (subjective, non-ABX) review in the Stereophile magazine, deemed the Pono Player's performance superior to more expensive components and players with the reviewer saying "I am pleased to report that CD rips sounded excellent through the player".[32]